The present invention concerns an apparatus for handling containers, load pallets or equivalent similar articles and the construction of a container, load pallet or equivalent article handled with the apparatus.
Numerous apparatus for handling containers and load pallets or other equivalent load units are known in the art in which the container or similar load unit has been disposed to move onto the chassis of the transport vehicle with the aid of separate cylinder apparatus and cam mechanisms. In such designs of the prior art, an auxiliary body is tiltable relative to the vehicle chassis with the aid of the cylinder apparatus, and the auxiliary body is provided with separate gripping means by means of which the container or similar load unit can be hoisted up on the auxiliary body. Removal of the load from the auxiliary body is similarly performable with the aid of separate power means or by the aid of gravity.
A drawback of prior art apparatuses that the load container cannot be lifted to a height greater than the transporting height. Moreover, in apparatus designs of the prior art the gripping cams are constantly prominent e.g. by effect of a spring. This mechanism imposes extra limitations on the handling of the goods container. Therefore when it is desired to load containers on top of each other, the vehicle has to be fitted with extra hoisting equipment. The use of fork lift trucks, for instance, to accomplish such stacking tasks is known in the art. Therefore when load pallets placed in storage are being unstacked, similar dismounting means have to be employed, and therefore the means which are known in the handling of conventional load pallets cannot be considered in problem solutions conforming to the state of art when pallets are being dismounted from stacks.